this morning on "early today," dropping out. less than a week before south carolina's gop presidential primary, jon huntsman is calling it quits. end of an era. a factory worker's daughter helped bring down the site of a tragic fire. and red carpet close-up. hollywood celebrities strike a pose at the 69th annual golden globes. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone.

i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a narrowing field. despite securing an endorsement from south carolina's largest newspaper, jon huntsman is officially ending his bid for the republican presidential nomination. he is expected to endorse front-runner mitt romney later today. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. good morning, everyone. first of all, we often don't see that endorsement come so soon. in this case, the same day the candidate is announcing he's quitting. this time, jon huntsman is expected to endorse mitt romney today as he announces he's leaving this race. the other thing that's interesting about this is the timing. as you say, it came after the state, which is the largest newspaper in south carolina, said there were only two candidates here worth considering, mitt romney and jon huntsman. they chose to endorse jon huntsman, saying he was the more principled candidate in a better

position to beat barack obama. that is not what untsman decided. in fact, a spokesman says the reason he's dropping out of the race is because he doesn't want to stand in the way of the candidate who is best prepared to beat barack obama. that, the spokesman says, is mitt romney. tonight in south carolina, you can expect to see romney the target of santorum, of newt gingrich, who has been focusing on him as well, and of rick perry. possibly ron paul as well. lynn. >> all right. tracie, thank you. elsewhere, the u.s. embassy in rome says two americans are among the 16 people still missing inside the italian cruise ship disaster. at least six people are now confirmed dead after the costa concordia hit rocks ju hit rocke tuscan coast. in a statement, costa says preliminary indications show

there may have been quote, significant human error. witnesses say he abandoned ship and may have been showing off by putting it too close to shore. shifting gears on a much lighter note, in hollywood last night, the biggest stars in film and television took to the red carpet for this year's golden globes ceremony. mark barger was there. >> reporter: silence was indeed golden at globes sunday night. "the artist" scored three wins, including best musical or comedy and best actor for jean dujardin. also scoring big, "the descendants." it took best drama and best actor for george clooney. meryl streep's won more globes than anyone else. "the iron lady" brought her

number eight. best actress in a drama for playing british prime minister margaret thatcher. >> i just want to thank my agent and god, harvey weinstein. >> reporter: another real-life role, marilyn monroe, brought michelle williams her first globe, best actress in a musical or comedy for "my week with marilyn." octavia spencer won best supporting actress for "the help." >> thanks, everybody. >> reporter: "the adventures of tin tin" won stephen spielberg an award. on the tv side, "homeland" won best drama. its star claire danes, best actress. best actor went to kelsey grammer for his role as a corrupt chicago mayor in "boss." "modern family" grabbed kudos for best tv come by while laura derns took best actress.

matt leblanc took best actor for "episodes." many beverly hills, california, mark barger. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a police cruiser dash cam was rolling when a florida police officer began beating an elderly man with dementia. the violence occurred after police arrived to break up an altercation involving the 66-year-old who allegedly pulled a knife on a co-worker. an elderly woman is very lucky to be alive following a crash into a chicago building. the car was launched into an empty doctor's office after she was rear ended by a truck. the woman and the driver of the truck were taken to the hospital for just minor injuries. and finally, one visitor to a texas high school had no problem clearing the halls. a wild buck jumped into a school window, forcing teachers and students to duck into classrooms. the animal ran through the building until it was able to find an exit.

fortunately, the commotion ended without any serious injuries. just some lunchroom talk and conversation. now for a look at your national and regional weather, we check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning. >> good morning. welcome back, i should say. >> thank you. good to see you. a little vacation. now i'm rested, relaxed. >> good to be. >> exactly. >> good morning, everyone. it's not going to be good to be traveling anywhere in the pacific northwest over the next couple days. we had some snow yesterday. looks like that's going to be the bulls eye this week for the stormy weather. a very active weather pattern moving into the west. we should see multiple winter storms. probably the last of them heading towards the weekend will start to bring wet weather and snow toward areas of california where they desperately need it. let me take you through it. first thing's first. right now, in the much left on the radar. a little impulse that went through yesterday. snow showers have pretty much ended. we got snow into areas near the valley. some areas the southern end of

the puget sound picked up as much as three to four inches of snow. we wait for tonight for the next slug of moisture. looks like a significant amount will come in tuesday into wednesday. that's why the cascades, this area of blue, that's over a foot. in some areas, three feet by the end of this week, especially south of portland. i think even seattle has a chance of three to six inches of snow with that tuesday night into wednesday storm. you notice that the stormy week, even in portland, but not quite cold enough there for accumulating snow. it's going to be active. that's a look at your n hopefully the roads should be just fine. california, you'll be much cooler. wait for your storm towards the end of the week. this is what we expected in the beginning of the winter with west to be active. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. well, france is stripped.

pump prices rise. and why natural gas customers are jumping for joy. your early morning headlines just ahead. plus, mark wahlberg gets a jump at box office with "contraband." the giants shock the defending super bowl champs. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. after threatening to cut off access to the strait of hormuz, iran is warning neighbors in the gulf against backing u.s. oil sanctions. president obama signed a law freezing out institutions. in iraq, at least ten people were killed, including police officers, after gunmen armed with explosives attacked a police compound in ramadi.

there's also word this morning a car bomb has killed at least eight. police in romania used water cannons and tear gas to control rioters in bukarest. a camp bell's soup factory was brought down yesterday. a daughter of a factory worker who was killed years ago had the honor of bringing it down. the first family took time sunday to honor the birthday of dr. martin luther king jr. president obama, michelle, and their daughters joined worshippers at a washington, d.c. baptist church. the civil rights icon would have turned 83 yesterday. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study says there's a bright side to hard times. traumatic life events can benefit you by teaching coping

skills, establishing social support networks, and promoting new cell growth if parts of the brain. researchers say it's like exercising to improve fitness dealing with adversity preparing you to become more resilient in the future. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. well, u.s. markets are closed today in observance of the martin luther king jr. holiday. here's a look at how the week ended. the dow closed at 12,422 after losing 48 points on friday. the s&p was down six points. the nasdaq fell 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 121 points. in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 192. when trading resumes on tuesday, wall street will be watching energy prices, european debt, and new earnings reports.

among the company's reporting this week are key financial stocks like bank of america and goldman sachs. french president nicolas sarkozy is calling for calm after standard & poor's lowered france's rating on friday. germany insists that reforms can help greece return to economic growth. but talks have stalled. oil prices in asia edged up near $99 a barrel today amid concerns that tensions in the middle east might hurt crude oil supply. despite tightening sanctions on iran's oil industry, experts say the country's crude should still flow, but perhaps at a deep discount. iran may ultimately have to sell its oil for 10 to 15% less. so far in january, we have not seen falling gasoline prices like we usually do. triple a says gas prices are at historic highs for this time of year, up 11 cents so far this

month. meanwhile, the price of natural gas is way down, which helps both homeowners and businesses. it fell 13% last week to its lowest winter-time level in a decade. the nation's largest retail trade group expects a solid 3.4% increase in sales this year. sales could reach over $2.5 trillion in 2012. and the number of internet users in china has surged past 500 million. an industry group reports new web surfers in china are going online using mobile phones and tablet computers. coming up in the nfl playoffs, the ravens move on a decisive win over the texans. plus, the giants upset the defending champ packers toed e a advance to next weekend's conference title game. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and this will be one of the stormiest weeks of the winter, especially in the northwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the nfl conference championship games are all set for next weekend. of course, that will determine which teams will go to the super bowl. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports

headlines. >> hi, there. good morning. there will be a new super bowl champion this year. the giants marched into green bay and knocked off the packers in decisive fashion. the g-men came into lambeau playing their best football of the season and kept it going against the heavily favored packers. tied at three in the first, eli manning hits hakeem nicks across the middle. he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. he rumbles 66 yards to the end zone. giants up 10-3 after one. final seconds of the half. instead of attempting a long field goal, the giants decide to go for it. manning throws up a prayer and it is answered by nicks. the hail mary gives new york a 20-10 halftime lead and momentum heading into the third. turnovers burnt the packers all game. aaron rodgers connecting with ryan grant, but he fumbles the ball. giants recover. packers had four turnovers. you're not going to win a playoff game, or any game for that matter, when you give up the ball that many times. the fumble sets up this. manning to mario manningham. eli's third touchdown seals it.

giants led from start to finish and beat the defending champi s champions. they'll travel to san francisco to play the niners in the nfc title game. to the afc where turnovers also did in the texans. the ravens take advantage of a houston fumble early in the first. joe flacco to chris wilson before the fans get settled in their seats. the ravens up 7-3. they add to the lead at the end of the quarter. flacco finds anquan boquan bold the end zone. texans chip away at lead and have a chance to tie it it in the fourth. down seven. t.j. yates throws into double coverage. he's picked off by ed reed. ravens score early and hold on to win 20-13. they will play the patriots in the afc championship game on sunday. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. coming up, disney rakes it in with a new dimension on an old favorite. plus, how one group of students in texas let their

imagination take flight. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this monday. forecast-wise, cold temperatures in the northwest are going to yield more snow in the days ahead, even for some of the bigger cities. today, just snow showers will develop later in the day. right now, we're okay on all the roads. california, you look dry. chance of showers in arizona.

more significant snow will come in late tuesday into wednesday, especially in the northwest. we're really going to get nailed. if you're watching us on king 5 news, seattle, washington, view a series of drawings that tell the story of human life's transitional stages. that's at the western gallery. that's your pacific event of the day. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. three new movie releases gave hollywood a boost after a sluggish holiday season. mark wahlberg's smuggling thriller "contraband" stole the top spot with $24.1 million. the 3-d release of "beauty and the beast" waltzed into second place with $18.5 million. that's good news for disney. and the weekend's third place new release "joyful noise" starring queen latifah and dolly parton came in fourth with $11.5

million. and this comes to us from kxas nbc 5 in dallas texas. in nearby mckinny, one group of students add a twist. they launched cryptic messages with haiku poems and personal messages. some didn't think they'd get a response. 160 miles east, a teacher stumbled po ed upon some of the bar-coded notes. she used a smart phone to unlock the messages. she then had her class write back, creating a digital-age approach to making new pen pals. very cool. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a virtual city was chiselled out of ice in moscow. architects and sculptures gathered to construct nearly 20 mini sculptures and a castle made of ice for a competition in russia with. temperatures hovering around only 32 degrees, the mild winter has left the creations susceptible to melting. weather permitting, the castle will remain open until march. in england, 50 cars from the iconic james bond flicks are starring in their own exhibition. marking the movie's 50th anniversary, most of 007's rides have been put on display. some of the cars bore the battle

wounds of filming the movies. others had their secret weapon systems exposed. pretty cool there. the exhibition is the largest of the vehicles in the world. and finally, one woman in new zealand is auctioning something off that is very valuable, you may say. with her financial situation getting tough, tina got crafty and started an auction where the winner could choose any tattoo they'd like to be tattooed on her bottom. that's right. offering about 12 square inches, she hopes the winner won't choose anything too crazy. so far, the bidding is up to over $12,000. i don't know who i'd like to pick their brain more, her or the people bidding of why you may actually be doing this. >> i'd say, you should see the other cheek. >> of course you would do that. only minorly creepy. well, it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day. today marks the official remembrance of dr. martin luther

king jr.'s birthday. in washington, the reverend al sharpton and interior secretary ken salazar will lay a wreath at national memorial. numerous cities across the country including atlanta, houston, and tampa will hold parades to honor the civil rights leader. the federal holiday means no mail delivery, and most banks are closed. in south carolina, the state's first ever tea party convention kicks off with the republican primary set for saturday. and happy birthday to kate moss. today the super model turns 38. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear from survivors on the luxury cruise ship that capsized in italy. and hear from jon huntsman and his reasons for withdrawing

in the race. keep it tuned here for more on weather, sports, and more. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.